Surfboards usually cost in the hundreds of dollars or more often are not being used when taken to beaches, and the like, so that the boards must be safely located. The temporary storage of surfboards while the surfer is at the beach but not actually in the water surfing, presents a dilemma. Surfboard decks are coated in surfwax in order to provide a tacky and sticky surface for traction for standing while at the same time not being so abrasive as to be uncomfortable while the surfer is lying prone on the surfboard deck. This wax-covered deck is particularly problematic during the interludes between surfing sessions. Laying the surfboard deck-side down in the sand or on other surfaces typically results in the deck wax collecting loose debris such as sand, grass, and the like, resulting in the surfboard deck surface becoming abrasive and being quite uncomfortable when the surfer is lying prone on the board, for example, while paddling the surfboard. Conversely, laying the surfboard deck-side up exposes the wax to the sun and the wax will melt and run off the surfboard. Various types of surfboard storage devices have been developed over the years to store the surfboard.
Since, wax is often applied to the surfboard deck side, this results in a tacky and sticky nature on at least one side of the board. As described above, laying the boards down on the ground such as the sand can often result in the surfboard deck allow for blowing debris such as loose particles, such as sand, grass, and the like, getting stuck the sticky/tacky surfboard deck. Merely, turning the board over does not overcome the problem since the sticky/tacky deck side is very close to the ground surface. Also, laying the surfboard on the ground does not allow the surfer to be able to apply new wax coating to the surfboard deck for at least the same reasons.
Various types of surfboard storage devices have been developed over the years to store the surfboard.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,733,000 to Stump, 5,211,364 to James; Des. 352,628 to James, and U.S. Patent Application Publication 2009/0039225 to Taylor, each describe holder type clips for supporting single surfboards to the ground. However, the surfboards are turned on their side edges so that one long side edge of the surfboards is positioned close to the ground. Similar to the problems described above, the close ground location will still allow for debris such as sand and grass to become stuck to the sticky/tacky wax coating on the surfboard deck. Additionally, the side edge placement will not allow users to reapply to coatings of wax to the surfboard deck.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,833,079 to Roberts; 6,390,309 to Tucker, and U.S. Patent Application Publications: 2003/0178382 to Tucker; 2007/0102380 to Shaw; and 2007/0125731 to Waterman describe storage racks. However, these devices be vertically oriented and be mounted to walls or to large stands, and have the surfboards also turned on their sides with the lowest row also close to the ground. In addition to the problems with the ground holder clips described above, these devices would be impractical to transport, assemble and use, and later disassemble in outdoor environments such as on the beach by single users.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,874,003 to Humphries; 2,897,911 to Bowers; 3,276,545 to D'Angelo; Des. 381, 853 to Funcich; and D562,016 to Tomasch et al. each show sawhorse type stands that can be used to support surfboards. However, the individual sawhorses cannot be easily folded up to be easily transported since they would be difficult to carry from place to place. Thus, these sawhorse type devices would be impractical for use by individual surfers for transport, assembly, disassembly, and the like.
Additionally, the above devices cannot be used to support other items at the beach such as fishing poles and the like.
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art.